Santa Maria Maggiore (Florence)

Santa Maria Maggiore di Firenze is a Romanesque and Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church in Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. This is among the oldest extant churches in Florence.

The church was originally constructed in the 11th century and underwent extensive renovations to the facade and sides in the 13th century.

The original church existed as early as the 8th century, and is first documented in 931. The legend assigning its foundation to Pope Pelagius II in 580 A.D. is not reliable.

In 1176 it obtained the status of collegiate church and was one of Florence's priories. The church subsequently expanded its possessions and in 1183 it was put under papal direct protection by Lucius III in 1186, which it kept in the following century. Acquired by the Cistercians, in the 13th century the church was rebuilt (with the exception of the original external walls and the vaults) in Gothic style. Giorgio Vasari mentions one "Master Buono" as the designer of the new edifice; he also writes that the high altar had a Coronation of the Virgin by Agnolo Gaddi, and the Cappella Maggiore contained frescoes by Spinello Aretino with the Stories of the Virgin and St. Antony Abbot, of which today only a fragment survives.

During the 15th century the church's finances declined: in 1514 Giulio de' Medici describes it as decaying, and in the following year the pope gave it to the Florence Cathedral's capitol. In 1521 it went to the Carmelites from Mantua. In the early 17th century the interior was restored by Gherardo Silvani, perhaps following a project by Bernardo Buontalenti.

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